Sympathetic and parasympathetic components of reflex cardiostimulation during vasodilator treatment of hypertension.
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Biomedical subjects
Publications and source records attributed to R P Verhoeven.
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1. In eight patients with essential hypertension (EHT) and six patients with renovascular hypertension (RVHT) peripheral venous enzymatically active and inactive renin values were followed after acute stimulation of renin release by the vasodilating agent diazoxide (300 mg intravenously). Active renin rose during the first hour after diazoxide and remained high during the following 15 h, but inactive renin fell during the first hour and rose thereafter. Peripheral venous active and inactive renin were not different from arterial values both before and after diazoxide. 2. Sixteen patients with EHT received propranolol, 80 mg, four times a day. Six of them had a first injection of diazoxide the day before propranolol was started and a second one after 10--14 days of propranolol treatment. Peripheral vein active renin was lowered by propranolol, but inactive renin was raised. Both the diazoxide-induced rapid rise of active renin and the fall of inactive renin observed in untreated patients were absent during treatment with propranolol. 3. In four patients with EHT and seven patients with RVHT renal vein sampling was performed before and 30 min after diazoxide. Increased release of active renin from kidneys that were not markedly contracted was associated with a fall of the renal vein to peripheral vein ratio of inactive renin to a value less than one. 4. It is concluded that under certain circumstances stimulated release of active renin is associated with removal of inactive renin from the circulation by the kidney. This may in fact be due to intrarenal transformation of circulating inactive renin into its active counterpart. The findings suggest that a beta-adrenoreceptor might be involved in this activation process.
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1. Active and acid-activable inactive renin were measured in renal venous and arterial plasma of 18 patients with essential hypertension (EHT) and 19 patients with renovascular hypertension (RVHT). In seven patients with EHT and in 11 patients with RVHT measurements were made before and 25-35 min after an intravenous injection of 300 mg of diazoxide. 2. Under basal conditions the renal vein to artery ratios for active and inactive renin in EHT ranged from 0.71 to 1.96 and from 0.68 to 1.44 respectively. In 14 patients with RVHT the renal vein to artery ratio for active renin on the affected side was above the range found in EHT and in six of them the renal vein to artery ratio for inactive renin was also elevated. 3. The diazoxide-induced release of active renin from kidneys, which had a stenotic artery but were not seriously contracted, was associated with a fall of the renal vein to artery ratio for inactive renin to a value below 1.00. 4. The results indicate that changes in the release of active and inactive renin do not always run in parallel. The findings are compatible with the hypothesis that circulating inactive renin can be activated in the kidney.
1. Haemodynamic responses to diazoxide (300 mg intravenously) were studied in 15 hypertensive patients before and after chronic beta-adrenoreceptor blockade by 320 mg of propranolol daily. After diazoxide alone, mean arterial pressure and total peripheral resistance were lowered by 24 +/- 3 and 35 +/- 5% (mean +/- SEM) respectively. Cardiac output and heart rate rose by 25 +/- 9 and 21 +/- 3%. During beta-adrenoreceptor blockade, the percentage changes of mean arterial pressure, heart rate, cardiac output and total peripheral resistance after vasodilatation were not significantly different from those after diazoxide alone. 2. Atropine, 0.04 mg/kg body weight, was given to 12 hypertensive patients chronically treated with beta-adrenoreceptor blockade, before acute vasodilatation by diazoxide. Diazoxide caused no increase in heart rate after combined beta-adrenoreceptor and parasympathetic blockade. However, cardiac output rose by 14 +/- 5%. 3. We conclude that withdrawal of parasympathetic tone is an important determinant of circulatory homeostasis after acute vasodilatation during beta-adrenoreceptor blockade.
Human plasma contains a non-dialyzable factor which is not enzymatically active in its native form but shows renin-like activity after exposure to low pH (inactive renin). In 3 out of 13 patients with renovascular hypertension the renal to peripheral vein ratio for inactive renin on the affected side was above 1.40, indicating renal release of this form of renin. In 4 cases a high renal to peripheral vein ratio for active renin was associated with a ratio for inactive renin below 0.80, indicating renal activation of circulating inactive renin. The results suggest a renal mechanism for modulating the degree of activation of renin. They have some practical implications for the pre-operative evaluation of patients with renovascular hypertension.
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Plasma thyroxine (T4), 3,3',5-triiodothyronine (T3) and 3,3',5'-triiodothyronine (rT3) were measured in 16 patients with Graves' disease. Patients were studied under the following conditions: first without any treatment, then, during beta-adrenergic blockade with propranolol, and finally after euthyroidism had been attained by carbimazole. During propranolol T3/T4 ratio decreased, whereas T4 remained unchanged. After carbimazole T3/T4 ratio returned to its pretreatment value. rT3/T4 ratio showed opposite changes. These results suggest that peripheral conversion of T4 into T3 and rT3 in hyperthyroidism is, at least partly, dependent on the functional status of the beta-adrenergic system. Suppressed peripheral conversion of T4 into T3 during beta-adrenergic blocking agents may contribute to the beneficial effects of these drugs in thyrotoxicosis.
Serial measurements of urinary sodium excretion, sodium space, plasma volume, and plasma renin concentration were made during the development of hypertension in patients who were exposed to an excess of endogenous or exogenous mineralocorticoid activity. Five patients with primary aldosteronism due to adenoma were followed during spironolactone treatment, for 35-55 days after the drug had been stopped, and finally, after surgery. Blood pressure rose continuously after stopping spironolactone. Sodium balance, however, showed an initial phase of sodium gain, followed by a phase of gradual sodium loss. Sodium space and exchangeable sodium rose by 5.0 +/- 0.48 liters/1.73 m2 of body surface area (BSA) (P less than 0.005) and by 865 +/- 97 mEq/1.73 m2 BSA (P less than 0.005), respectively; the values were maximal after 10-15 days, declined afterward, but remained higher than during spironolactone treatment. Plasma and blood volumes rose by 624 +/- 90 ml/1.73 m2 BSA (P less than 0.005) and by 327 +/- 74 ml/1.73 m2 BSA (P less than 0.01), respectively; they were maximal after 20-25 days, and then returned to their initial values. Exchangeable sodium, during the phase of sodium loss, was inversely correlated with the rise in blood pressure (P less than 0.01). Renin fell during the phase of sodium gain, and remained low afterwards. Blood pressure and sodium space declined after surgery, but plasma volume showed no change. The postsurgery values of these parameters were not significantly different from those measured during spironolactone treatment. Two subjects with adrenocortical insufficiency, who were followed for 45-60 days during treatment with dexamethasone and 9alpha-fluorocortisol acetate, also showed a transient rise in sodium space and plasma volume. The results suggest a redistribution of body fluids during development of hypertension. They also suggest that the tendency of body fluid volumes to return to normal is pressure-dependent. The long-term effects of mineralocorticoid excess on the interrelations between pressure, volume, and renin bear some resemblance to the pattern observed in patients with established essential hypertension, i.e., pressure remains elevated despite a decrease of volume, and renin is "inappropriately" suppressed in relation to the sodium and volume status.
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Human plasma contains renin, which is enzymatically active at neutral pH (active renin), and a non-dialysable factor, which has renin-like activity after treatment at low pH (inactive renin). In vitro activated plasma-renin and purified human renal renin showed identical enzyme-kinetic properties. Quantitative estimations of inactive renin in renal venous plasma from 5 patients with renal-artery stenosis demonstrated its release by the kidney. Acute stimulation of renin release by isoprenaline, tilting, or diazoxide in 13 normotensive individuals and in 9 patients with essential hypertension increased active plasma-renin and reduced inactive plasma-renin. Inactive plasma-renin was increased and active plasma-renin decreased during suppression of renin release by propranolol in 12 patients with essential hypertension. In 55 patients with various disorders, inactive and active plasma-renin were directly correlated. However, the concentration of inactive renin, for a given value of active renin, varied widely from patient to patient. These results indicate that so-called inactive renin is indeed physiologically related to active renin. They also suggest that inactive renin can be activated not only in vitro, but also in vivo. Different renin assays measure different relative amounts of active and inactive renin. This may call for reinterpretation of results obtained by various methods, especially in situations where changes in plasma concentrations of the two forms of renin are in opposite directions.